PETALING JAYA, 21 Aug 2009: Despite Women, Family and Community Development Minister Datuk Seri Shahrizat Jalil’s pledge, the Penan task force report is still not available, not even to “interested parties” visiting her ministry.

Attempts by The Nut Graph yesterday — following the minister’s promise to make the report available to a limited audience of “interested parties” only — to access and examine the report at the Women’s Development Department (JPW) proved unsuccessful.

“It is not available now,” JPW director-general Datuk Dr Noorul Ainur Mohd Nur said when met at her office, even though it’s been nearly a year since reports surfaced that Penan women and girls were being sexually violated.

“I will pose this request (to access the report) to the minister, and get back to you,” Noorul said, when asked why an “interested party” such as a journalist could not access the report.

On 26 May, Shahrizat, in declining to commit to making the report public, said that “interested parties” would be able to approach the ministry to discuss the details of the report.

“A request has to be put in, and we will be happy to oblige,” Shahrizat had said.

The Nut Graph did notify the minister’s office of its intention to view the report through her media secretary. However, this request went unacknowledged.

The Nut Graph also wrote in to Noorul two days before going to her department but only received an e-mail response to say that she would revert on the request after having a task force meeting next week.

Penans saying grace

When met yesterday, Noorul said she “hoped” to have the report available for viewing after the meeting next week.

Neither Shahrizat nor Noorul have been able to explain why the task force report, which identifies the Penan community’s vulnerabilities in the Sarawak interior, cannot be made public or accessed by “interested parties”.

The Penan task force was commissioned by former minister Datuk Seri Dr Ng Yen Yen in October 2008. It was dispatched to investigate claims that logging company employees were sexually abusing young Penan girls and women.

This lack of public accountability and the 19 Aug revelation that the Sarawak police would not be supporting a joint police-NGO mission to investigate the reports of abuse due to a lack of funding, is worrying. It raises the question of whose interests are really being protected in Sarawak.

But Noorul would not be drawn into such a discussion. Instead, she stressed the need for NGOs and the public sector to work together.

She added that the JPW welcomed interested NGOs who wished to work with the ministry on Penan welfare. “The more the merrier,” Noorul said.

Tried to leave a comment on Shahrizat’s blog asking when the Penan report would be made public. That comment never saw the light of day. In fact, I don’t see a single comment on her blog. Quite pathetic.

Absolutely outrageous! Public funds were used to conduct this investigation into a serious violation of rights.

We have a right to know not only the contents of the report, but how it was conducted, who was involved and what action will be taken. Clearly, transparently and with accountability.

The Ministry for Women, Family and Community Development is in serious breach of accountability if they don’t avail the report to the public, in the most accessible way possible. Publish it on the ministry’s website now!

This Shahrizat is really a disgrace [...] Penan gals, even though they are not aligned to Puteri Umno, are still human beings, for goodness sake. They are now sexually violated and any human with basic human values would [want] to stand up for them.

[...]

I hope the Sarawakians [will] have some dignity in them and not to be cheated by the BN government [with] all their empty promises. [...]

What the DG needs to understand is that this is not a blame game. If they cannot even decide when to release a report of an investigation initiated by the former minister in October 2008, how are people, in this case the Penans, going to feel they have their interest represented by the ministry?

While the suggestions to build links with NGOs and to work towards some sort of development raises a whole bunch of other questions, the point of the task force was specific: “It was dispatched to investigate claims that logging company employees were sexually abusing young Penan girls and women.”

The question is simple, does the report indicate that there were credible claims by the Penan communities of sexual abuse by logging company employees? If the answer is yes, will police investigations ensue?

It is indeed disturbing as well to hear that the Sarawak police will not be supporting a joint police-NGO mission on grounds, if I understood correctly, that they lack funds. How much exactly are we talking about?

As for “Sarawak police”, isn’t this innacurate? As far as I understand it, Malaysia has only one police force and that is the PDRM. Police is a federal organisation and not state. But I could be wrong.

Any clarification on:

1) how much the police actually need to participate in the joint mission and
2) whether the state of Sarawak has its own police force will be very useful.

This is a country where “women’s rights” only apply to women who are rich and support the correct political parties. If you’re an ordinary person, you’re on your own if someone harasses or discriminates against you. If you’re poor and live in the middle of nowhere, you’re – in this case literally – screwed.